Cards endure difficult season

1st trip to Wrigley since Kile's death

August 31, 2002|By Fred Mitchell, Tribune staff writer.

They switched hotels, but the St. Louis Cardinals could not stay away from major issues when they came to Chicago.

The last time the Cardinals met the Cubs at Wrigley Field in June they had to deal with the sudden death of 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile, whose body was found in his room of the downtown Westin Hotel.

Friday, awaiting word on a possible work stoppage, Cardinals players remained in limbo at the Four Seasons Hotel until they received word to board the bus to the ballpark for the 2:20 p.m. contest. The team had switched hotels because of the sad memories associated with their late teammate.

"We have had some adversity," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. "I view what happened [Friday] as very positive. It is a sunny, beautiful day, and we are at Wrigley Field and we have a labor agreement."

With a first-time day-night Wrigley Field doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, the Cubs and Cardinals were especially hopeful a labor agreement would be realized.

"I was optimistic that something would get worked out," Jocketty said. "I thought all along that they were close enough to get it done. That's obviously why we made the deal [Thursday] for Jamey Wright, because we felt it was going to get done and we needed another pitcher."

In addition to the death of Kile because of congenital heart disease, the Cardinals' organization and fan base has had to deal with the losses of legendary broadcaster Jack Buck and former World Series MVP Darrell Porter. Still, the Cardinals entered Friday with a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central.

"This is a very strong, close-knit club," Jocketty said.

Former Cubs reliever Jeff Fassero, recently traded to the Cardinals, admires his new team's fortitude.

"The atmosphere here in the [St. Louis] clubhouse is so much better, how they get along so well as a team," Fassero said. "They are on that one mission, and that's to win. They fought through a lot of adversity."